


the light inside of your eyes

by orphan_account



Category: Death Note
Genre: Anxiety, M/M, small petulant frog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 09:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4217067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For <a href="http://aiiichichi.tumblr.com">aiiichichi</a>. Light comforts L about his sense of impending doom.</p><p>Title from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU-VJOzb-10">"Diamonds."</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	the light inside of your eyes

“Something really bad is going to happen. I can feel it.”

Light’s sighs are all internal now. This is a common occurrence, a common comment or observation or whatever it is. And when he lets the sighs leave his mouth, L becomes even more withdrawn than usual. 

It’s like taking care of a child. And in a way, he supposes he is. Watari specifically left him in charge, though why he bothered to do so is a mystery to Light. He’s L’s suspect, not his damned mother.

But taking care of L is a full-time job, and once L decides he’s no longer under suspicion Light fully intends to demand pay for it.  

“Is it now?” he says, voice dripping with sarcasm, with condescension. He doesn’t feel like playing whatever game this is.

As predicted, L doesn’t like this response. He turns his back to Light, arms wrapped around his knees. “Yes,” he says, voice almost a snap. “It is.”

Light turns his attention back to the newspaper in his hands, mind only half-interested in the actual news being reported. Despite his best efforts, his attention has been diverted to the person sitting next to him.

It’s so agitating.

Light does let a sigh out, folding the paper neatly and placing it back on the coffee table in front of them, turning his head with his mouth open to make a comment about L being a distraction, but the words catch in his throat. 

He’s thrown off. He’s never seen L looking so vulnerable. 

“Are you okay?” he asks, and he really should have expected the resounding and frustrated  _no_  that creeps out from the bundle of nerves and unkempt hair next to him.

“What’s wrong?” Light prompts, and he reaches out a hand to place on L’s back before he second-guesses himself. He doesn’t like physical contact, right?

“I already told you” is his response this time. He’s earned that one, too.

But it isn’t going to stop him from pressing further. “It wasn’t really specific,” he points out. “You just said something bad was going to happen, but you didn’t say what.”

“That’s because I don’t know what,” L says. “If I knew that, I’d stop it from happening.” He says it like it’s obvious. Maybe it is. Probably it is. To him, at least, and therefore it should be common knowledge to everybody else.

Light raises a hand again, and stops. If it were Misa having a tantrum, he’d calm her down by hugging her. He doesn’t know what the hell to do here, and he’s just wasted two strikes on foul moves. 

So, he goes for a third option, because it only makes sense to fight common sense with common sense. “Well, if something does happen to you, it’ll happen to the both of us. I’m not leaving you, remember?”

L turns his head, finally, but he doesn’t look relieved. Just annoyed, and vaguely alarmed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

Yes, Light thinks, but he doesn’t bother voicing it. It won’t get him anywhere, and it’s starting to feel like nothing will.

Logically, he knows he hasn’t tried much. There are literally hundreds of things he could try doing to cheer his…whatever up. But he’s ruled out physical confrontation and all the other things too far out of left field to really consider, and his options are narrowed considerably.

Not really knowing what the hell else to say, he asks, “Would you prefer it if I left?”

“ _No_ ,” he says, and it doesn’t sound angry so much as…afraid. Desperate. “I just want this feeling to go away,” he adds. His voice seems small somehow, and it’s painful for Light to listen to.

Light licks his lips, a million answers on the tip of his tongue and none of them the right thing to say. “How can I help?” he finally asks, because being honest here is better than being smooth.

L looks at him, eyes still wide and right arm still shaking with a tight grip on his knees. He doesn’t open his mouth, face pressed against his arm as his left hand reaches out to grab Light’s fingers.

Light stares - not at L’s face but at his pale fingers, holding onto his own tightly. He wiggles his fingers, maneuvering and adjusting them so that they’re not breaking under the strain. And when he’s done, the two hands are intertwined, fingers locking together. 

“Thank you,” L says, and for once it actually sounds like he means it. 


End file.
